Juxtaposing experiences of local and foreign travel bloggers: insights from abduction

On-site experiences form a key phase in one's travel behaviour. These experiences, although often shared on social media by tourists, are less frequently, if not rarely, accessed by researchers. Travel blogs, however, are cost effective and readily available sources of rich accounts of tourists' experiences, thoughts and feelings. This abductive study analysed 40 travel blogs by local bloggers and foreign bloggers about Palawan (Philippines) and Ko Samui (Thailand). Anchored on van Dijk's (2001) critical discourse theory (CDA), the blogs were content analysed through thematic coding with the aid of Leximancer. Results revealed that local bloggers, in general, have a deeper sense of connection with and regard of local history and culture of the tourist destination rendering an ethnocentric attitude, while foreign bloggers were more attuned to the entertainment and aesthetic aspects of the destination. Analysis confirmed the significance of emic and etic ways of perceiving things which have posed essential benefits to the perceived dual role of researchers - as self (travellers and writers; subjective) and as researchers (data investigators and analysts; objective).

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ATRC 2017: ASEAN Tourism Research Conference

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978-967-0173-37-5

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